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“Why go into space?” is a common question that many people ask. Many skeptics asked, “What value there was in bringing moon rocks back to earth?” The question shows they missed the true benefit we gained from the space program. Retrieving moon rocks may have been a trivial event in history to all but geologists and astronomers. But the journey to the moon and what was developed in order to get there and back safely has dramatically changed history. This was the true benefit of the space program. It’s not the destination that’s important—it’s the journey.

Catching some sun and collecting moon rocks in the U.S. Space Program. By NASA on The Commons (Apollo 11: Catching Some Sun) [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons

The technology that was developed in order to reach the moon was then further developed to produce dramatic, technologically advanced, consumer and business tools. The quest for the moon rocks has created a vast array of tools that have changed society—its pace and how it qualitatively operates today.

Before the space race, the use of transistors was in its infancy. Existing electronic technology employed vacuum tube circuits that were too heavy and too delicate to handle the demands of space travel. Of necessity, they were replaced by transistors and solid-state electronics, a newer technology that was there, waiting in the wings and ready to explode in usage and growth. They just needed the right door to enter through.

Demands for increasingly complex circuits continued, and obligingly, these transistors were grouped together into integrated circuits, further reducing weight, size and power usage while increasing functionality. As the demands for onboard automatic controllers and computers increased, these integrated circuits evolved in further complexity and were ultimately combined into microchip computers.

The space program (and related military missile programs) forced electronic miniaturization which, in turn, inspired further advances in electronics and birthed an amazing and expansive industry. The burgeoning electronic industry then reapplied the technology developed from the space program into more terrestrial pursuits, like portable transistorized radios, solid-state televisions, the mini-computer and then the home computer. When IBM first introduced the home computer in 1981, many could not imagine why anyone would need a computer at home. Find information more on wesbite best rechargeable water flosser. That quickly changed as simple and highly useful programs, applications, games and other entertainment and communication functions were added to make home computers an indispensable part of our personal and professional lives today.

Now we feel the need to carry these computers with us everywhere in the form of smart phones, laptops and tablets. Most of us sit in front of a computer at work. The “tool” of our era is technology. The human race has transitioned from the Industrial Age into the Technology Age in an extraordinarily short period of time.

Few of us understand the pivotal role the space program had in propelling this transition.

To put it simply: our current space program has lost its mojo―it is simply a refinement of what was done before. Few seem to be interested in re-examining what can be accomplished. Rather, we only seem interested in making small, low-risk improvements to previous technology—yesteryear’s, not tomorrow’s, or even today’s.

Our approach to going into space has barely changed since the initial design decisions were made in the 1950s and 1960s. The decisions, made during the Cold War era, were based on proving to the Russians that our rockets could reliably destroy Russian targets and thus provide a deterrent. The exploration of space was only a subterfuge. Our manned space program had to use the same propulsion system as our military system in order to prove to the Russians that our systems were effective.

The design decisions shaping the U.S. space program scarcely considered making the program practical, economical or low cost. It didn’t matter how much the rocket cost if it prevented a Russian nuclear bomb from reaching our shores. Why do we continue to make only small incremental improvements to a fundamentally non-practical launch system?

Rockets are not the only way to get into space. However, traditional rockets are the common item people imagine when they think of space travel. Rockets have been ingrained in our psyche as the method to get into space since the early days of science fiction.

“What if” we consider and examine all methods to get into LEO? Would we still select traditional rockets to get into space? Have science and technology advanced enough since we selected rockets in the 1950s to allow better choices than rockets today?

We owe it to our future to reexamine the choices made in the past and to determine if a new, more practical solution is possible. Let’s rethink space travel. The book “What If We Made Space Travel Practical?” dives into this topic at length.